Mobile dental office to provide treatment for those with disabilities

Rose Marie Appel of Hempfield knows firsthand the dental challenges people with disabilities can face.

She pays hundreds of dollars every year for dental care for her son Kurt, 49. Kurt Appel's dentist does not accept his insurance, a common roadblock for many people with disabilities.

"I pay out of pocket," said Rose Marie Appel, who has tried to maintain her son's comfort with the dentist he's seen for decades.

A new option has come to town. A mobile dental unit staffed by Accessible Dental Services Inc. will be available on East Pittsburgh Street in Greensburg for people ages 6 and older with physical, behavioral, intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The unit will be located behind Westmoreland Casemanagement and Supports Inc., a nonprofit that coordinates services for people with behavior health and intellectual disabilities.

Rose Marie Appel, Casemanagement board vice president, said thousands in the area can benefit.

"Number one, they have to be comfortable," she said. "My concern is not just for Kurt, but for all of the people we represent."

"They live in the community, they have apartments, they live independently," she said. "Dental health is really needed, and we'll be able to serve them now because we're centrally located here."

The unit accepts all types of insurance, including Medicaid, and is open to anyone with a disability.

A similar type of dental clinic in the area closed several years ago, leaving people with disabilities little or no options, said Monica Ritenour, board secretary for Casemanagement.

"There's been a gap in the community for this type of service," she said.

Lynnette Emerick, director of the nonprofit, said people with disabilities can go for years without seeing a dentist, either because of insurance issues or because dentists won't treat patients like them. That can become a problem for some because the medication they take may have a dry-mouth side effect that causes dental problems, she said.

"Bringing it on site puts accessible dental services right in our back yard, right in our community," she said. "This is where people are."

The mobile unit -- essentially it's an RV -- has two dental chairs.

Dentist David Pavasko, dental director of Accessible Dental Services, said sedation is needed at times when treating people with disabilities. That service will be offered only at Accessible Dental Services' four fixed locations in the region.

"We'll see patients who haven't seen a dentist in years," Pavasko said.

Another challenge is that people with disabilities may have behaviors that are not conducive to completing a cleaning or procedure. Sometimes patients won't open their mouths or they may get frightened by the instruments, Pavasko said.

To aid in that aspect, the mobile unit provides a lot of staff to comfort a patient, he said.

"We do spend a lot more time in treating the population," he said.

The mobile unit arrived in Westmoreland County by way of a partnership between Accessible Dental Services, Westmoreland Casemanagement Supports and Westmoreland County Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. The unit was introduced in the Pittsburgh area in July 2010.

Tags: dental people disabilities services accessible mobile dentist casemanagement